The 2026 FIBA Intercontinental Cup is just five days away, with the tournament set to tip off in Beijing, China, on September 22. Rwandan powerhouse RSSB Tigers will represent Africa after winning the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) title in Kigali in May. The tournament will run from September 22 to 27, with six teams divided into two groups of three. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals, with the first-placed team in each group facing the second-placed team from the other group. The two bottom-placed teams will meet in the fifth-place game. The champion will be crowned on September 27. How did they get here? African clubs have featured in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup since 2022, following the launch of the BAL in 2021. Zamalek of Egypt, US Monastir of Tunisia and Al Ahly of Egypt all reached the top four before Al Ahli of Libya finished third in 2025, behind Unicaja of Spain and the NBA G League United of the United States. RSSB Tigers secured their place in this year's tournament after winning the 2026 BAL title. They finished top of the Kalahari Conference during the BAL regular season, winning four of their five games to enter the playoffs as the third seed. In the playoff quarter-finals, they scored 193 points across two games against FUS Rabat before beating Al Ahly 106-97 in the semi-finals. The final went down to the wire, with Tigers edging Petro de Luanda 90-88 to win their first BAL title. They averaged 97.3 points per game in the playoffs. Who are the players to watch? Head coach Henry Mwinuka has several key players from the BAL title-winning squad, including Ntore Habimana, one of Rwanda's leading guards. Habimana averaged 13.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game at FIBA AfroBasket 2025 and has won four Rwanda Basketball League titles. Axel Mpoyo and Dieudonné Ndizeye are two other Rwandan players in the squad. Mpoyo averaged 16.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers, while Ndizeye averaged 13.0 points across five games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers. BAL 2026 MVP Craig Randall II is also back. He averaged 36.1 points per game during the BAL season, including a career-high 54 points in April. Teafale Lenard, another key player in the championship run, returns after averaging 19.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists for Tigers last season. Johnny Hamilton adds size to the frontcourt. The 2.13m has had three seasons in which he averaged more than two blocks per game. Tyler Bey brings international experience after playing in Israel for Ness Ziona and Hapoel Haifa, where he competed during the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons. Jonathan Galloway, who is also 2.13m tall, completes the main frontcourt rotation. He has played in Denmark, Croatia, Switzerland, Türkiye, Finland, Czechia, Cyprus, Kosovo, Venezuela and Rwanda.
